Dr. Anthony Fauci told CNN’s Chris Wallace that former President Donald Trump’s staff “declared war” on him during a tumultuous period at the height of the pandemic when information was changing by the second.
Fauci appeared on Wallace’s show which is streamed on CNN +. The transcripts were obtained by The Hill. The embattled doctor has come under tremendous criticism in recent months by Republican lawmakers who are demanding answers to some of Fauci’s suggested pandemic mandates.
“My position in the White House became extremely uncomfortable and, in fact, untenable, because I kept on telling the truth,” Fauci said.
In December, Wallace left his longtime position at Fox News to host a show on startup CNN+. Several months later, he criticized the culture at the network calling it “unsustainable.”
You can trace Fauci’s disdain for the Republican party directly back to Trump. Fauci served under several Republican presidents including Ronald Regan, George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush.
“How tough was that, dealing with and sharing a podium with a president who … was dispensing misinformation?” Wallace asked Fauci.
“Yes, it was very painful,” Fauci answered. “And that’s the reason why I had to do something that I know alienated a lot of the Trump people, in fact, maybe all of the Trump people.”
